


the river branches out

by yeastlings



Series: the one where they're on the national team [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Food, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Pining Hinata Shouyou, Post-Canon, Reunions, Training Camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25278457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeastlings/pseuds/yeastlings
Summary: They were only one day into the national team intensive training camp, and Yuudai was already terrified of Miya Atsumu.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu
Series: the one where they're on the national team [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831372
Comments: 19
Kudos: 352





	the river branches out

**Author's Note:**

> I opened my CuriousCat to requests for interactions between the newly-revealed members of the national team! This is for the anon who requested Hinata, Hyakuzawa, and Atsumu. The AtsuHina is entirely my own doing, oops.

They were only one day into the national team intensive training camp, and Yuudai was already terrified of Miya Atsumu. It wasn’t anything that Atsumu had done to him, exactly. No, it was because during the very first scrimmage, Atsumu had turned to a more senior member of the team and said, as calmly as if he was ordering something at a restaurant, that he would appreciate a little bit more effort put into hitting his tosses. He was equally forthright with the other people in his scrimmage group, including Yuudai: not mean, but somehow still intimidating.

“He’s…demanding,” Yuudai said to Hinata as they sat in the cafeteria eating dinner together. “Intense. It’s like he doesn’t acknowledge limitations.”

“Well, he doesn’t,” Hinata said, swallowing a mouthful of rice and fried fish. He’d come back from Brazil earlier that summer, more tanned than ever and apparently allergic to wearing shirts with sleeves. Yuudai was wearing a light jacket to ward off the AC’s chill, but Hinata seemed perfectly comfortable in a sleeveless tank top.

The Brazilian volleyball league’s season had been suspended in March due to the pandemic, and what with being called up for the national volleyball team, Hinata had decided to just move back to Japan for the time being. Yuudai was a little awestruck by his ability to bounce from place to place, at ease no matter where he was.

He watched as Hinata drank his miso soup with gusto. He set the empty bowl down with a clack and said, “Ah, I really missed this food. There’s a Japanese Brazilian community, you know, but their food’s a little different because they’ve adapted it to the local cuisine and available ingredients. Anyway—” He smiled at Yuudai. “Atsumu-san always wants to be doing something better and cooler, so there’s nothing he hates more than hearing ‘There are limits,’ whether it’s about him or someone else. Going wild is what makes him such a good player. He can get kind of carried away, though, so you shouldn’t be afraid to tell him that you just can’t or won’t do something.”

“I can’t imagine he’s someone who would take that well.”

“What, really? He’s not that scary. He’s more bark than bite.”

Yuudai thought about how Atsumu had stared at him during the scrimmages, his sleepy eyes inscrutable as he assessed some part of Yuudai that only he could see. “I told him his tosses were a little too high, and all he said was ‘Well, seems to me like you could jump even higher, so let’s keep tryin’.’ Like there was no question about it, and I was an idiot if I disagreed.”

Hinata laughed. “That does sound like him. If it makes you feel any better, he always knows the best toss to give his spikers, so he wouldn’t be doing that if he didn’t think you could go higher.”

“I think I’d know my own jump height better than someone who’s never even played with me,” Yuudai muttered.

Hinata didn’t seem to hear him. He’d twisted around in his seat, scanning the cafeteria for something—or rather, someone. His expression brightened, and Yuudai followed the line of his gaze to where Atsumu was sitting at a table with Komori, Kageyama, and Sakusa. Atsumu was leaning his elbows on the table, a mean smile on his face as he said something to Sakusa that made Sakusa’s mouth twist in displeasure. Atsumu laughed, and Hinata’s lips twitched, too, the fondness written all over his face.

Yuudai blinked. He knew that Hinata respected Atsumu as a volleyball player—he’d gone so far as to re-sign with MSBY Black Jackal to have Atsumu as his setter again, even though he’d gotten plenty of offers from other V.League teams—but he hadn’t realized that he simply liked Atsumu as a person, too. Maybe that was why he had such a rosy view of him.

When Atsumu got up from his table, Hinata waved to him, clearly trying to get him to join them. Atsumus started walking over, and Yuudai stared down at his rice bowl, not sure what he would do if Atsumu started talking about how they’d lost most of their scrimmages. If he was willing to call a senior member lazy, even if not in so many words, what must he think of Yuudai, who’d only barely managed to get his spikes in towards the end of the day? Yuudai wasn’t the same inexperienced kid he’d been when he attended that first Miyagi training camp, but it was hard not to feel judged and found lacking by someone like Atsumu, who did everything with care and intent, down to his first step.

At least Atsumu didn’t radiate the same intensity that he had during practice. He was cheerful, his gestures expansive as he plopped into the seat next to Hinata and draped an arm across the back of his chair. For all that he was such a loud presence on the court, he could be quite withdrawn off of it, unreceptive to the back slaps and headlocks that players liked to bestow on each other. It was strange to see him being sociable, almost hyper.

“Yuu-kun,” he said, and Yuudai wondered when they’d reached the stage where they used nicknames, “Shouyou-kun here says I was bein’ too hard on ya today. Was I?”

Yuudai flushed. Why did Hinata have to put him on the spot like that? “I wouldn’t say it was too hard…”

“Your tosses were too high,” Hinata supplied. He was flushed, his body leaning imperceptibly towards Atsumu’s as he talked to him.

"Well, like I said, I think Yuu-kun here could jump higher.”

“How would you know? You’re not him.”

“Ha! Says the guy who kept jumping higher ‘cause I kept tossin’ higher. Nobody knows ’til they try.”

“But I’m not Shouyou,” Yuudai interjected. “Jumping isn’t my strong point.”

He expected Atsumu to say something withering about how anything could be a strong point with enough effort, but instead he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “You’re right. You’re way taller than this shortie here, so you don’t gotta jump as high as him to reach the same point. Plus you’re bigger, so gravity pulls on ya harder. But still, dont’cha wanna see just how high you can go? ‘Specially since you’re so tall. You should take full advantage of it.” He brought his arm down in a sweeping arc, like he was spiking. “Whoosh. Right over everyone’s heads, every time. You’d look so freakin’ cool!” 

He was smiling from ear to ear. Yuudai flushed, suddenly aware of why Atsumu was so popular with sponsors. He was bad at faking enthusiasm, but when it was genuine it was infectious. Not to mention, he was handsome. Yuudai glanced at Hinata and saw his thoughts mirrored on Hinata’s face. He blinked. So that’s what it was.

Atsumu was still talking, oblivious to both of their feelings. “I think if we work on your footwork leading up to the spike, it would improve your jump a lot. Like the rhythm, there’s this thing I saw on MeTube—you saw it too, right, Shouyou-kun? You’re the one who showed it to me.”

“Uh, yeah,” Hinata said, too quickly. “I can help you with it if you want, Hyakuzawa.”

“Good, then it’s settled! Let’s work on it together tomorrow. You should work on your setting too, Shouyou-kun. I saw some of your emergency sets this season, and they were downright sad.”

No wonder Hinata had rejoined MSBY to have Atsumu as his setter. He didn’t see limitations, only possibilities. Yuudai saw in him an echo of Hinata all those years ago at the Miyagi training camp, telling him that his height was a talent he should treasure. He smiled at his teammates and said, “Yes, I’d like that very much.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ninetalesk).


End file.
